Under presure
by Cetacious
Summary: Dr. Black Jack treats cardiac problems in midst of political intrigues.


I finally wrote a Black Jack fic! As on the original anime, any similarities with reality are pure coincidence.  
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It was a cold corner on the edge of the world none of us cares about until we try to make a list of where we would not like to live. Even the sea here looked gray, under the gray autumn sky by the gray city. A light, milky gray. As I walked down the stairs from the ship I looked around the people waiting for the passengers. I had not been told I would be received at the docks. None of them had a sign saying my name, as some like to use, but it was tremendously obvious. The three big suited men contrasted with the rest of the moderately dressed and mostly unshaved population. They looked at each of my motions.  
-Doctor Black Jack?- one of them asked as I came closer.  
-That's me, in deed- I confirmed.  
-Follow us, please.  
They led me into a car which started moving through the city. Most of it was full of massive concrete block buildings, unpainted. Beggars and informal merchants surrounded us by every traffic light. It was true what they said. This was not a good place to stay or even visit unless one had a one million dollar offer. The car drove out of the city, onto the arid country side and then into the woods. Then it suddenly stopped.  
-Is something going on?- I asked.  
-Get out of the car- the driver dryly replied.  
The man sitting by me in the backseat pushed me outside. I almost slipped on the orange leafs lying on the pavement road. Above our heads the naked trees stretched their branches to the gray sky. He looked at me, expecting me not to move. The co-pilot took something out of the glove compartment. I knew what this was. In a second the man next to me looked away I jumped up and started running, straight into the woods. I could advantage them enough not to get caught. I heard a shot behind me. They had guns, as I had suspected. I turned between one tree and another, and when I thought I had lost them I saw them straight behind me. I kept on running away for like half an hour, with their bullets howling by my ears until I finally found myself alone. I looked around me once more and confirmed it. Everything was silent. I had got away by few, but my wallet remained in their car, I did not know these woods, most probably nobody did, and my map was in my wallet. I decided to walk in a straight direction, it should lead me somewhere, near or far, at least I would have a point of reference to get to the patient. I had not been told he had enemies. But I would soon come to know he had other ones and more dangerous than these.  
  
After two hours I was back to the city from where I could find my way more easily, asking the locals for the patient's residence. It was not hard to find, its size and architecture contrasted with the rest of the local buildings. A large beautiful Asian style house, only two floors high but very wide. A middle aged woman received me with a surprised look on her face. She wore an expensive short lavender dress and had her long black hair falling free onto it. The age did not make her any bad, maybe she looked even better than when she was young.  
-I am Dr. Black Jack- I explained- I come to see minister Yon.  
-Sorry sir, but the minister is very sick. He can't attend you at the moment.  
-That is exactly why I'm here. I was called to treat him.  
The woman moved her small black eyes down towards the silver bracelets on her right wrist and spoke softly:  
-Oh, yes, Black Jack. Come in, please.  
We passed into the garden and walked towards the house.  
-I am Miss Chei Sao, I'm taking care of the minister as good as I can. It will be just me, you and him in the house. He is very important for the communist party, but he has gone terribly sick lately. We called the best medics in the country, but the minister insisted it had to be you who treated him.  
It had been a male voice on the phone, and it sounded notably perturbed. If there was no other man in the house, it meant minister Yon had been obliged to call me personally. This gave me a bad first impression about Miss Sao. But my impression would soon change, and keep changing all the time until my departure.  
  
The minister lay on a flat bed in midst of a wide, empty room, illuminated through the paper walls to which he was facing. He did not seem to have any pain at the moment, just sat up straight and pale looking into nothing. When he saw me come in he turned his sight slowly, then made a slight smile.  
-I'm glad you could make it up to here, doctor- he whispered hoarsely.  
His skin was full of sweat. By the scent of his mouth I could tell he had regurgitated recently, not only food but mainly blood. I stepped up to his side.  
-Naturally- I answered- You called me.  
-Didn't they try to stop you?- he asked.  
I took out the stethoscope and put it onto his chest. His heart was very weakened.  
-Don't worry about that, minister- I tried to calm him.  
-I can't trust anyone anymore. Only Chei and you.  
His blood pressure was also critically low. It was a wonder he didn't fade. Still now I looked closer he had red spots here and there. Hemorrhage.  
-All local medics are bought by the oficialist side of the party- he continued- They want to poison me. They want to reinitiate the production of nuclear weapons. They believe it's the only way to defend our nation from the growing Powers, but they're wrong. But the people won't realize unless I tell them. They believe everything the president says. The problem is Chei doesn't want to trust me. She thinks I'm delirating. You trust me, sensei, do you not?  
He had three strong hemorrhages still flowing and several previous coagulations. As he had not let himself treat by anyone before me, he was in a notably bad state. He was lucky of not having had a cerebral hemorrhage yet. However, it was rare to find hemorrhage along with such low pressure, which would never cause the vessels any kind of damage. He put his sweating hand onto mine as I took out the thermometer and looked into my eyes, expecting an answer.  
-I cannot tell about politics or your mental health, all I can say is I shall do my best to cure you. What is to be done now is a preventive operation to stop the flowing hemorrhages and clean the coagulations.  
  
-Yon is our last hope- miss Sao said as she came out into the garden.  
She wore an emerald traditional dress and had her hair bound together. Around us the grass was yellow and the artificial lagoon somehow also seemed to have lost its grace.  
-He was speaking about nuclear weapons- I told her.  
-The president has the idea we are the next target on the Great Powers' crusade for justice. He says to fight fire with fire. But we know that's not true, announcing something like that would only provoke them more. War is not upon us yet. Minister Yon still believes in a peaceful solution, but he's the only one who could do it. If the disease had not fallen onto him now...  
-I must say the Great Powers do seem to have some dislike for your people- I commented- They still have a resentment against communism, specially the way it works here...  
-We are a free nation- she countered angrily- a people's republic, Dr. Black Jack. No foreigner has to tell us what to do. And where are you from? Why are you not caring about the people of your nation instead of moving in shadows? You are a stateless mercenary, are you not?  
I did not feel it was proper to answer those questions. My reasons had no value within her way of thought. We looked at each other silently for a moment.  
-The minister had fifteen coagulations and three open-I decided to inform- I just cleaned them all moments ago. His heart seems to have a problem I still cannot figure out yet.  
Miss Sao lowered her view, somehow feeling sorry but also sorry for feeling so.  
-His blood pressure changes drastically- she explained- Usually it is terribly weak, but approximately once every day it raises terribly high for a few minutes and then decays again. I don't know why either.  
  
The cardiogram of the next twenty-four hours confirmed what miss Sao had told me. A generally very low blood pressure and heartbeat, but which had a dramatic rising at 2:34 AM to fall three minutes later. Still the graph on the paper was not enough to deduce the cause. A cardiac operation was of course pointless as long as I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I should have been there at the time the pressure rose to personally see what was going on. But for some reason I had not been told when the patient had had his episode. Miss Sao had asked me to sleep in a separate room and I was very tired due to the traveling, so my sleep was deep. I never thought I could still commit such simple mistakes.  
  
-Minister, would you mind telling me what happened last night at 2:34 AM?- I asked, going through the routine inspection.  
The morning sun was still on the other side of the house and would not come to shine into the minister's room until around noon. We depended on electric light for now.  
-Two... thirty-four...- he muzzled- Oh, sorry, I don't know. I had a bad sleep.  
The event had apparently come to perturb his perception. The level difference justified it, he would have gone overoxigened and then unconscious. This could in deed be affecting his mind, putting him into political tasks in this state was impossible. On the other hand, he had not had any more hemorrhages last night and the old ones were healing alright.  
-Sensei- he whispered, extending his hand to my face.  
-What is it?- I responded after a while of silence.  
-You trust me, do you not?  
-Yes, minister, do not worry.  
-I trust you, Black Jack sensei.  
-I'm glad you do.  
He looked at me with big round eyes.  
-I have to do something soon, sensei- he begged-. Please, help me to tell the nation what's happening.  
-I'm afraid I don't have skills in that area...  
-No, you don't understand. Bring people here, bring the television. I know they'll kill me one way or another, I don't mind to die as long as I can tell the nation what happened.  
-You will not die, minister.  
He looked away from me and smiled cynically.  
-Seems like you don't trust me that much, sensei. Please, promise me you'll...  
-I cannot promise that, minister. I'm really sorry. What I do promise is that you will live, live to tell everything to the entire world once you are healthy.  
-That will be too late- he whispered even softer than before.  
  
I stood there, wondering about what to answer to that, until Miss Sao came in and to the silence. She brought the minister's breakfast, humming a song and asking him if he felt better. Against my expectations, I had not found anything abnormal in the minister's blood. What had given more interesting results was the urine analysis. I asked Miss Sao whether I could take a sample of the minister's breakfast.  
-Excuse me?- she asked.  
-I want to analyze what my patient is eating- I explained.  
-I prepared this myself, Dr. Black Jack, you don't need to worry about it. Look, it's just tea and toast.  
-Please, Miss Sao...  
-What?  
-Sensei,- the patient himself protested- Please don't guilt Chei.  
-I am not quilting her, I only want to...  
-Yon is safe with me, Dr. Black Jack- she insisted- I've taken care of him for three months by now, I and the country put our entire hope into him. How could you possibly think I am giving him something bad?- Miss Sao left the tray next to the patient and got to her knees, turning a resented face to me -I know I was not very kind to you yesterday, maybe that's why you don't trust me. I must say I am really sorry for that, for this whole misunderstanding, it is unusual for me to meet someone in your situation and I suppose I never really tried to understand your reasons. But doctor, please don't think such bad things of me.  
I could not do but apologizing too.  
-It's me who must be sorry- I said.  
-Don't worry about it anymore- she answered, turning her grim to a tender smile.  
  
I decided to stay at the patient's side constantly for an indefinite period of time. I needed to be there personally when the blood pressure rose, to draw conclusions on what was happening. Unfortunately I could not get an echograph to see his hearts motions in the moment they happened. The cardiograph and the bare eye would be all I could rely on. They could be enough if I stayed there to witness the moment. However, this meant a long waiting. I watched him taking his breakfast very slowly, then reading until he fell asleep, all during long periods of time. It was about 3 pm and minister Yon slept. Nothing new had come up yet. Miss Sao sat on my side and hummed that tune again. The afternoon sun seemed to gleam around her face. Her song faded out and she turned her sight towards me.  
-Dr. Black Jack, do you think I am a xenophobic person?- she asked regretfully  
-You are a patriotic person- I answered- there's nothing bad about it. Of course there is a reason why people only call me as a last resource. You are not the first person to distrust me.  
-Are you used to get rejected?- miss Sao sadly wondered- It must be very hard...  
-I can take it. It's not that bad either.  
-I know I couldn't. Maybe that's why I got into the party, I have this need to feel part of something, that people are on my side. But this time I and Yon are alone again. I don't know if we'll make it.  
-He is very stressed, but also very perturbed. He cannot talk like that, but he says time is running out. Miss Sao, can I ask you a favor?  
-What is it?  
-Let it be you who tells the nation.  
-Me? You mean about... Doctor, I am really sorry, but I don't think I have the authority. I don't even have an official political charge, I'm only a random activist and sometimes advisor for now.  
-Minister Yon asked me to tell the people. He has faith they would believe even an anonymous foreigner whenever the truth is on his side. Please, miss, at least try. Do it for him.  
-Yon is such an idealist- she sadly smiled- I may try, but I'm almost sure it won't work, no matter how right it sounds. Things are never that easy, otherwise the world would be beautiful. But you see, the capitalist system has again taken over all of it and now wants to destroy the few remnants of the liberated world. I hope our parents' revolution was not in vain, but we must keep on fighting, now harder than ever. The world doesn't help the righteous, it hits them down every time harder.  
-Still I am here to help.  
-Of course. I am thankful for that. But would you help even if Yon could not pay you a million dollar?  
I did not want to talk about that. Again, the point that had made us dispute the day before. Maybe she was right, if anybody can be right at all. But honestly I don't think there can be a single sure version about that.  
-Sorry, I don't guilt you- she regretted when hearing my silence- You see, it's still the capitalist system, even inside of yourself.  
We went on chatting about less important things, nothing worth to remember, but interesting enough to pass the time while the patient slept. I could not get my eyes off him, after all. Hours passed and as the sun sat I had to ask Miss Sao for a coffee. It would be a long night and it was better to be as awake as possible. A long night in deed, with a big set of unexpected surprises.  
It was about 4:00 AM and the night that far had been long and empty. It would be much longer, and I only wished it had remained as empty as it had been untill then. Miss Sao had fallen asleep short after midnight, she wanted to stay at the minister's side as long as possible, but her sleep was stronger than her. I would have taken her to a more formal bed, but I could not leave the room and abandon the patient. I woke her up and told her to go to bed herself, but she refused to do so. She asked me to call her Chei and muzzled something about watching me, something I would not come to understand untill a couple of hours later.  
  
In spite of the coffee my vision had already started to get clouded, and with miss Sao asleep at my side and me confined to this room, there was no way to get more of it. Then it was my waiting ended. The cardiogram screeched and the ministerst chest seemed to grow incredibly whide as he himself literally flew up into the air ripping his eyes and mouth whide open all at a time just to release a vain sigh of desperation, all this in less than a second. Any remnants of sleep left me imediately as I saw my patient's body spasmodically rasing and falling and red spots appeared here and there on the surface of his skinn. His eyes now stared into nothing and were totally red, obviously he had already lost consciousness. I stood there without knowing what to do, the situation somehow did not tell me anymore than I knew already. Although I was there personally in the precise moment, it ended up being the same thing. After a while I noticed a red spot growing on his left hand. Another one on his right leg. Hemorrhages. On his chest and his lower left abdomen. I had never before seen them grow in such speed and quantity. On his cheek. If this went on like this the brain would not pass untouched. He was on the line, that was the moment where I decided between life and death. New information was not to be expected, I had to work with what I had already had since before. That beat had to be stopped. My only idea was very risky, but it was all I could aply. I took out the defibrillator. Now. It happened as I had forseen. The electrick shock immediately stopped his heartbeat. I now turned him over and proceded to palp his head.  
  
-His heart. It's not beating.  
Miss Sao had got up and looked scared at what I was doing.  
-He can still resist a while- I explained- He has recieved an overdose of oxigen, now he'll live a couple of minutes without it.  
The hemorrhage on his cheek was not that dangerous. There was no problem inside his brain, but on his backhead a small pool of blood started forming.  
-I will have to go to craneal operation right now. The hemorrhage must be stopped before the lose blood can get to more important parts.  
-Doctor Black Jack- Miss Sao begged- let me assist you. And, please, be carefull.  
-Alright. But let's hurry, we cannot operate well with his heart beating and the minister will only resist about three more minutes like this.  
I put on the gloves, mask and hat.  
-Scalpel.  
I cut the skinn of his neck aside to see him from the inside. The situation was as I had thought, a colateral arteria in his upper neck had ripped a small hole into itself and was now leaking, the red discontrolled liquid moving towards the thalamus.  
-Towel.  
Miss Sao handed it over to me with her hands shaking, she was nervous and that made things more dificult.   
-Needle.  
I heard the small peace of metal falling out of her hands behind me. I looked over at her to find her blushing with a desperate expresion on her face. She could no way insert the thread like this.  
-I'm sorry, Miss Sao, but I think it will be better if I do this myself- I stated.  
She nodded regretfully without saying a word or moving at all. Without an asistant the operation would go slower and I only had one minute left. I took out another needle and closed the hole in the arteria. It seemed done. I proceeded to close his backhead. Now it was time for the defibrilator again. He only had a couple of seconds left. One or at most two tries, and I still could not know how his heartbeat would go after it restarted. Without turning him over I just pulsed. His beat was back, the old weak beat I had heard along the day. He started breathing calmly and came back to consciousness.  
-Chei...- he whispered.  
She ran to knee on his side and take his hands into hers. None of both seemed to have enough strength to talk, but there was another kind of comunication between them. The minister then fell back to sleep immediately, but Miss Sao still kneed taking his hand. It was unpleasant to break this scene.  
-Miss Sao, please step away. I have not finished yet.  
She did not seem to hear me at first, then suddenly realized I had spoken and jumped up alarmedly.  
-W-what do you mean?- she finally came to stumble.  
-His heart. I stayed up all this time to find out what was happening with it, but now I did not come to figure out. Still I am sure the problem resides there and I shall proceed to fix it imediately.  
-B-but you don't really know what you're talking about. Doctor, you're going to work on blind.  
-Better to work on blind than not to work at all. I must fix it now. He won't survive another eppisode like this one.  
She looked at me somehow angry, hating me for saying such a horrible truth. It could sound like madness, but it was the only way out.  
  
I could not turn him over again with the fresh wound on his neck. That is, not completely. I lay him onto his right arm. I would have to work like that, transversally. I took out the pump. The minister himself had mentioned cardiac problems on th phone, an operation was previsable if the situation was serious enough to call me. It was an automathic pump, nothing notorious enough to be called an artificial heart, but suficient to give me an hour to work on the real heart. I proceede to open his chest, cutting through the sternum. His lungs were breathing slowly, his heart beating softly. The cardiac muscle still looked swollen, of course it was tired due to the intense work it had just performed. But the reason why it done that was still deeper inside. Inside the very heart. I activated the pump, filled it with plasma, cut the heart out of place and conected the replacement. His pulsations continued the same way. Positive. The organic heart throbbed in my hands. Maybe it could be easier to get a transplant instead of doing all of this, going onto this uncertain terrain. But the minister could not trust his landsmen anymore, the hospital could give us a defectuous transplant and I could not get one from anywhere else now. This was the only heart I had, now lying motionless in my hands, exhausted and silent. I opened the left chamber. The blood it still contained dripped onto my throwsers and the carpet. Nothing. The left part of the heart showed absolutely no anomaly, all textures overused and swollen, but nothing that could justify my search. I proceeded to the right chamber. It had to be there, no other place could explain this incomprehendable situation. But no. Nothing. The muscular textures, plasma and vessels, tired, in pain but all in its place. I could not believe it. I revised the left chamber again, then the right one once more, but still did not find anything wrong. I left the heart rest on a plate on my side, sighed and rubbed my eyes. The sleep was gaining me again. But then it was I noticed it. I remembered. The cardiac nerves, I did not have to cut them myself, did I? The conection was incredibly thin. Then, the orders from the brain were not ariving at the heart strong enough to make it bump propperly, therefore they had got stronger, and when they reached it, the heart bumped as hard as it could. This could only have happened through a highly evolved synthetic poison. In his urine I had found residues of something that could have been synthetic. It was recent. Still, now the problem was as good as solved. All I had to do was putting the heart back into place, this time conecting the nerves propperly. Laying the heart into the chest in lateral position was unusual, but not too dificult. I sewed it and put it back into function. Rythm: normal and stable. I looked over to Miss Sao and a loud sudden noise made my ears hurt. I was all full of blood now. The heart had exploded. Miss Sao held a smoking gun. I raised my hands.  
-You lost the patinet- she coldly said.  
-What...? Why...?  
-A stateless asshole like you may disapear in the woods and no-one will care. A polititian is different. Close his chest. You lost him. I'll give you the million dollars anyway if you cooperate.  
  
A lost patient is bad for my reputation, but that's not the main reason why I now hate everything that happened there. The comunist party, only actual party with complete control of a goverment which is anything but a people's republic, openly broke the international nuclear disarm treaties and practically declared war to the entire world. And yet, nobody really cared. The Powers concentrated their crusade rather on wealthier and less agresive countries from which they could get resourses to plunder. Once I left the country I told the entire story, but still nobody cared about that cold corner on the edge of the world. 


End file.
